My German, Great Uncle's WWII Soldbuch (Soldiers Book)

[Gaffer]

A while back my german uncle gave to me my great uncle's Soldbuch. His name was Heinrich Spengler This is really awesome to own, and I have enjoyed reading through it and trying to figure everything out.

I thought some of you may be interested in seeing this bit of WWII history, and that, yes these were real people with real families!

A little history of how I am related. My mom is German and my Dad (American) was stationed in Germany the early 50's, met my mom and married her. My mom was 6 or so when the WWII started and her family (both sides) were from Kassel Germany. Herr Spengler was the brother of my mom's mother. He and my grandfather, Richard Diehl (Diehl was my mothers maiden name) both served in the Wehrmacht during WWII. I was born in Germany before my dad was stationed back to the states. I did meet both my great uncle and my grandfather since I was a little over 1 before I left Germany, but I sure don't remember it :>). Unfortunately my grandfather died shortly after that and I never got to see him again.

Below are some scans and a bit of info of a few selected pages from Heinrich's Soldbuch.

Above you can see his issued K98 Rifle. I don't know if the number is a serial number for the gun or some sort of armory inventory number. Wouldn't it be cool to own that!! This page also shows his bayonette.

The above is his paperwork at the end of war for his surrender. I don't know his whole history during the war, but here, at the end of the war, he was a tank gunner. He was in the Panzer-Kompanie Stavanger. What little info there is about this is that they were a tank company in Norway. The Stavanger tank company used captured French Hotchkiss tanks.

Here is a photo of my great uncle Heinrich Spengler. The picture is dated 1940, so I am assuming this is when he "enlisted".

The above photo is my Grandfather (my mom's dad). I don't have a date on this, but I assuming it is an early photo. I do know that he was a messenger during the war and got to drive around on a motorcycle. I wish I had more info on him but we could never find anything the last time I was in germany a few years back.

Though nothing to really do with the above I thought I would post a photo of my mom and dad's wedding day in Germany since it kind of fits :>)

My dad served for 25 years, and passed several years back. My mom is still going strong!

Thanks for checking this out.

Ron

 

[red_zr24x4]

That's some cool history you have there

 

[Alamo]

Nice post!

 

[Cameramonkey]

#triggered!

Kidding, Thats pretty cool!

 

[littletommy]

That’s really cool! My dad was German, and I do know a few details of where his family was from, but nothing like what you have. Dad was actually born here, but his father didn’t come to the US until sometime in the early 1900s. I’ve always wanted to go to the town in Germany where my ancestors are from.

 

[Trigger Time]

Wow. Cool history there. Glad you have it. Its a reminder too that not all german soldiers were war criminals. They were just soldiers too.
Its always been interesting to me how in all conflicts throughout history the occupying forces marry some of the home crowd. Not just americans but with America you look at just in the span of 100 years how many nationalities were brought here from former conflict zones to start a new life, and accepted as Americans. We are an awesome country. Truly a melting pot and better for it. Your own family history shows that here.

 

[rob63]

Very, very interesting, thanks for sharing!

The 5518i for the 98k rifle listed in the Soldbuch is indeed the serial number. Dou is the manufacturer's code, indicating it was made my Waffenwerke Brunn in Czechoslovakia.

Your grandfather, the one that rode the motorcycle, is wearing a Luftwaffe uniform.

Here is a colorized photo of a Luftwaffe messenger service rider:

 

[femurphy77]

VERY cool! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Expat]

Congrats, that is really neat.

 

[gregkl]

Very cool! I'm always interested in this kind of stuff. My dad was a German officer fighting on the Russian Front in WWII and my mom lived in southern Germany during the war.

My oldest brother was 11 when they immigrated to America so that makes me a first generation American in my family.

Nice that your dad served for 25 years.

That's a bummer you didn't get more time with your grandfather. It would have been nice to hear some stories.

My dad was starting to write a book about his time in the military and his captivity in a Russian POW camp ( he was a prisoner for about 5 years in two different concentration camps), but unfortunately cancer took him when he was 68. I have the notes he spoke into a tape recorder up until he was shot and captured. I'm trying to get my brother to put it into some kind of book form, even if for just us family.

We don't have any items from Dad's time in Germany. It's cool that you have his Soldbuch.

 

[Expat]

Very cool! I'm always interested in this kind of stuff. My dad was a German officer fighting on the Russian Front in WWII and my mom lived in southern Germany during the war.

My oldest brother was 11 when they immigrated to America so that makes me a first generation American in my family.

Nice that your dad served for 25 years.

That's a bummer you didn't get more time with your grandfather. It would have been nice to hear some stories.

My dad was starting to write a book about his time in the military and his captivity in a Russian POW camp ( he was a prisoner for about 5 years in two different concentration camps), but unfortunately cancer took him when he was 68. I have the notes he spoke into a tape recorder up until he was shot and captured. I'm trying to get my brother to put it into some kind of book form, even if for just us family.

We don't have any items from Dad's time in Germany. It's cool that you have his Soldbuch.

My uncle was a POW in a German camp. Apparently it wasn't really like Hogan's Heroes. He wrote a book on what it was like but for some reason burned it.

My mom had a couple German foreign exchange students. I can remember talking to one that said everyone is still ashamed and struggle with the guilt of what happened. I told her that was crazy, she had nothing to do with it. But apparently they are taught in school to be ashamed of themselves.

 

[Thor]

Great bit of history to keep alive. Thanks for sharing your story.

 

[dfcrane]

Very cool getting to see your Great Uncle's paperwork. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Super Bee]

Very cool post, thank you for sharing.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

My uncle was a POW in a German camp. Apparently it wasn't really like Hogan's Heroes. He wrote a book on what it was like but for some reason burned it.

My uncle was a Hospital Corpsman at a MASH unit in Korea, and he refused to watch the TV show.

 

[Huzrjim]

Very nice find! I've been researching my family history for several years - Dad's side immigrated from southern Germany in 1852 and I've tracked down relatives in Germany. Can't find any evidence from them that they served in WWII, but they did proudly show me where a family member served and died honorably in WWI. Noticed when I visited that there are many war memorials from WWI, but nothing from WWII. Like it has been erased from their history.

My first ship, the USS LUCE (DDG 38), where I served as a newly minted Ensign fresh out of OCS, visited Bremerhaven, Germany in 1985. We were hosted by the German destroyer Rommel named after Field Marshall Rommel, perhaps the only German officer from WWII honored in any manner after the war.

 

[Spear Dane]

This thread is awesome. OP, I am certain there are people in Germany that specialize in looking up the details you would want to have regarding those two. No idea what it would cost, just know they are out there.

 

[Sylvain]

This thread is awesome. OP, I am certain there are people in Germany that specialize in looking up the details you would want to have regarding those two. No idea what it would cost, just know they are out there.

It might not cost anything.
The OP could contact his local German diplomatic mission, there's a German consulate in Indianapolis.
It's part of their job to do that kind of stuff.
I know the French Embassy in the US often gets requests from Americans who had family members serving in France during WW2.

https://www.consulate-info.com/consulate/1375/Germany-in-Indianapolis

 

[Mark 1911]

My Mom's stepfather, I called him Opa, was a in the Luftwaffe in WWI and was awarded the Iron cross. I have it. I'll take a pic of it and post, will have to search a little for it.

They came to the US in 1936, I should say they fled due to being Jewish. He kept his German military service a secret. I only found out because I was being nosey and was searching through some old boxes when I was about 15, after he had already passed. I brought the wooden box with the medal in it, showed it to my grandmother and asked her what it was. I never saw her so upset with me in my life as she was in that moment. He never wanted his grandchildren to know that he fought against the US. He felt betrayed by Germany, rightly so, and truly loved America for giving him and his family a second chance in life.

 

[Gaffer]

Thanks everyone for all of the information and comments! I really do so appreciate it.

Funny, I never noticed that my Grandfather was wearing a Luftwaffe uniform. Good gracious, you would think all the wings would have given me a tip!

It's pretty cool hearing all the other stories also.

It really is an honor having this book.

Thanks Sylvain, I will probably start looking into it.

Ron